This invention relates generally to online computer games, and more particularly, to online digital photography game systems.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and data as described below and in the drawings hereto: Copyright (copyright) 1999, Sony Electronics Inc., All Rights Reserved.
With the increasing popularity of computing and the use of the Internet, in many fields, traditional analog technology is being replaced by digital technology. One example of this transformation is in the field of photography. As is well known in the art, traditional photography involves conventional film and chemical processing, whereas digital photography involves the creation of digital photograph files and the manipulation the digital photograph through digital processing. Generally, digital photography is advantageous over traditional photography since the repetitive costs of film and chemical processing are eliminated. Furthermore, digital photograph files provide a more permanent storage format previously unavailable to photographers.
Disadvantages in the early development stages of digital photography included color and resolution control although with the advent of 2 megapixel and above digital cameras, these initial problems are being overcome. Additionally, digital photograph files are generally large and occupy a significant portion of disk space requiring digital photographers to be equipped with relatively high-powered personal computers.
Several digital photography web sites currently enable computer users to upload and store digital photograph files in user accounts on the Internet using the World Wide Web (web). Digital photograph files may be created by scanning conventional film photographs or may be created directly through the use of a digital camera and uploading the digital photograph files either directly through a PCMCIA card or through the use of hardware such as flash memory cards, USB ports, and application software.
These digital photography web sites, however, are limited in scope to general digital photography information, commercial film processing services that also create and provide digital photograph files, commercial digital photograph processing, and free file storage space for digital photograph files and digital photography albums.
An online digital photography game system automatically administers digital photography games and declares game winners. A digital photography game is created and published online. The digital photography game system receives a digital photography game entry from a user. An entry fee may be required for the user to participate in the digital photography game. The digital photography game processes the game entry. In another aspect of the invention, the entry may be compared against a pre-determined digital game solution. The digital photography game winner is declared. Additionally, users may receive awards such as recognition, prizes or cash for participation in the digital photography game.
Online digital photography games expand the utility of the web for digital photography by providing computer users and digital photography enthusiasts with an accessible and stimulating arena for utilizing digital photography. As a result, the field of digital photography may be advanced and adoption of digital photography furthered.
The present invention describes systems, clients, servers, methods, and computer-readable media of varying scope. In addition to the aspects and advantages of the present invention described in this summary, further aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by reading the detailed description that follows.